Every family has one—a child who is extremely picky about the foods he or she is willing to eat. For some kids, this pickiness may simply be an assertion of independence. For others, it may stem from prior experiences with certain tastes or textures that they find disagreeable. Whatever the child’s motivation, parents of picky eaters often worry that their child isn’t getting enough to eat or isn’t getting adequate nutrition for proper growth and development.
However, parents shouldn’t be overly anxious if their child is highly selective about food— and there are some simple steps parents can take to encourage their finicky feeder to embrace healthier eating habits.
Don’t spare the snacks
It may seem counterintuitive, but in-between-meal snacks can be a parent’s best ally when it comes to promoting proper nutrition for a picky eater because they can help make up for nutrients missed at mealtime. However, it’s important to offer healthy, nutritionally dense snacks, such as fruits, vegetables, cheese, or yogurt, rather than snacks loaded with empty calories, such as cookies, candy bars, or potato chips. Also, avoid offering snacks too close to scheduled mealtimes or your child will already be full before lunch or dinner is served.
Consider presentation and texture Kids are very sensory-oriented, and the shape and color of their food can be just as important to them as the taste. Making meals fun and visually appealing, by making a smiley face out of peas and carrots, for example, or cutting certain foods into interesting shapes with cookie cutters, can entice children to sample fare that might not appeal to them otherwise.
Texture also has a significant influence on kids’ food preferences. A child who has no aversion to eating canned tuna, egg noodles, and peas separately might find these same foods unappetizing when they’re all mixed together in a casserole. It may also be helpful to try offering foods prepared in different ways. For example, a child who doesn’t like the “mouth feel” of cooked vegetables might enjoy crunchy raw veggies such as carrot or celery sticks instead.
Serve the spice of life!
Without even realizing it, many parents offer their kids a relatively limited number of food choices based either on convenience or their own food preferences. However, introducing kids to such a limited menu can set the stage for future finicky eating. Beginning at a young age, children should be offered a wide variety of foods so they have an opportunity to expand their palate beyond burgers, chicken nuggets, and macaroni & cheese. The same applies to veggies. Don’t limit their choices to broccoli, peas, and carrots. A child who can’t seem to stomach broccoli might surprise you by showing a preference for asparagus or Brussels sprouts. You won’t know unless you experiment.
And keep in mind that persistence pays. Don’t get discouraged if you serve a particular food night after night with your child showing no interest. Continue to offer the food, and you might be surprised to find that he or she eventually comes around and tries it.
Don’t undermine their hunger cues
Kids will typically eat better when mealtimes correspond with their natural hunger cues—the body’s mechanism for telling us whether it needs more food for fuel or has had enough. Parents unwittingly undermine these natural cues when they tell children who are already full to “clean their plate” or when they postpone mealtimes until long after the child’s hunger cues have already kicked in.
Be on your best behavior Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it’s also the way kids develop many of their food preferences. If they see their parents routinely eating fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods, they’ll be more inclined to try them, as well. On the other hand, if parents are “all talk and no action” when it comes to healthy eating, they shouldn’t be surprised to see this same attitude reflected in their kids.
Remember: this, too, shall pass Keep in mind that it’s normal for kids’ dietary preferences to change as they grow. They might eat everything on their plate during a growth spurt but then reach a plateau and eat much less or become pickier. This is seldom cause for worry. However, if you’re concerned that your child may be at risk of a nutritional deficiency—for example, if he or she adamantly refuses to eat fruits or vegetables and the key nutrients they contain— consult your pediatrician for advice.
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